Floating

In the bathtub tonight, Diego practiced floating. He was totally focused. I don't know how long we spent in there. It was quite awhile. He wanted me to make the water deeper so he could get his back up. He did it. I could see him winding down right before my eyes.

Bedtime was still a bit of a struggle. I have seen worse though.

Violet's teeth

all four of violet's first molars are in. But she still doesn't have that fourth top front tooth.

Swimming lessons

Diego has had two swimming lessons at the YMCA. He does very well. It is really interesting to watch him all on his own. He pays attention to the teachers. There are two young women with about 5 or six kids.

Violet is cutting more teeth

She is still just sporting the front three teeth. Tooth order was a little odd. Her first to erupt was a lateral incisor "D". Then came "E". I can't remember the order after that. The bottom two came in about the same time "O" and "P". On top, it looks like she has D, E, F, I, and B. On bottom, she has N, O, P, Q and looks like L and S are peeking through.

Violet has two new teeth. The two next to her bottom front teeth. She loves to sit and look at picture books. She is so enamored with her brother and will do just about anything he puts her up to doing... I try to remind myself that is cute.

We signed up for a YMCA membership. So expensive but hopefully worth it. Diego has four weeks of swimming lessons starting May 31st. I so hope he enjoys that. Will be his first organized activity.

I signed Diego up for Preschool for the fall. He is on the waiting list for a Montessori program. If he doesn't get into that I won't send him because the only other options are too costly. I signed him up for a special needs class with CPS only because that was the only option that we could afford but we aren't going to send him to that. The registration will just hold his place with CPS so we can switch him if/when he gets into Winton Montessori.

The special needs class has four average students and 8 special needs children of practically any variety and only two adults (1 teacher and 1 aid). Um. That could be okay but I think it is unlikely to be a good option for him.


Violet says:
Elmo (MoMo)
Plane
dog
bye
hi
Diego
Daddy
Momma
meow (ow)
more (mow wah)
teddy
bowl
bite
no
wow wow (as in wow wow wubbzy)

Thunder Wasp

So this April we have broken records for rainfall. It has been thunderstorms everyday now for I have no idea how long. Diego has developed a thunder phobia. He has taken to waking me up every few hours crying about thunder. The kicker is that he is doing it regardless of the fact that there was no thunder or even any rain at all! I don't know if he is dreaming of thunder or just anticipating thunder or hearing a plane. What I do know is that I can't take much more of this!

So the only good thing about rain (as far as Diego is concerned) is that the wasps don't come out in the rain. This summer promises to be very fun since now Diego is hysterically afraid of our plenitude of wasps. I have no love for the wasps either. I blame myself for my squealing over the bumblebee invasion last summer. But this is very troubling because he will not tolerate them at all. He will scream his head off until we go back inside.

What to do?

VV speaks

I haven't kept up with this journal. I really need to try harder! Yesterday, we bought our annual parking pass for Hamilton County Parks. We started out heading for Parky's Farm but it was overcrowded with events and we headed for the Lake instead. We looked at geese and ducks and checked out the boat rental area.

It was a bit too windy and Violet's hat almost blew away. I had to chase it down the street like a fool!

Then we let the kids play on the playground which was also very crowded. I got to listen to a young mother scold her child vehemently for acting like a girl. It was heartbreaking. After humiliating him, she let him continue playing. Then she decided to make a loud call on her cell phone to bad mouth him some more to some other party (and everyone on the playground). I fantasized about having a word with her.

Speaking of words...

Violet says a lot of new words. Some probably nobody but me would understand.

Diego
Dog
bread
drink
ball
Nose
hair
eye
mouth
ow
more (this she accompanies with sign language and is terribly cute and effective)

Violet walked across the room

Violet stood up and walked across the living room today while Jason was out of town visiting Diane in hospital. Violet has also been very enthusiastically giving open mouth kisses. She even grabs your head and pulls you towards her face!

Summertime updates

Diego had his first experience with watercolor paint today. He made several paintings and wiped out most of the paint. He is very careful and deliberate.

Violet climbed the stairs yesterday! Uh oh. She stands without balancing on anything but her own two feet. We think walking is right around the corner. She uses the little wheel toys to push walk around whenever she has the opportunity.

Cincinnati Nature Center

We took a short trip to Rowe woods to walk around and feed the fish and observe the trees and birds. Diego had the best time. The pond is rather murky and it is difficult to see the blue gill but if you adjust your eyes you can see them. I don't believe Diego saw them but he had fun anyhow. We saw frogs on the lily pads at the Lotus pond. That was covered in green almost completely. Frogs were everywhere! and the dragonflies were zooming around as well.

violet stood up unassisted

I plopped her down on her feet forgetting that she can't stand and she stood there! On her own!

Violet is sitting

Finally, Violet has decided to master sitting! She is a master crawler, stander and sitter. She has stopped sleeping through the night! Bonus for me. I love waking up every couple of hours.

Violet is crawling and cruising

VV has been crawling for a few weeks now. She just turned six months old a few days ago. She is also pulling herself up to stand and cruise along furniture. Still she shows no interest in sitting up. I think she is motivated by her big bro. She wants to be wherever he is and loves it when he dotes on her.

We all caught colds/flu a week apart - starting with Jason. Then I came down with it and then Violet. Lastly, was Diego. Poor D was sicker than I have seen him. He was throwing up and just wanted to lie in bed and watch cartoons. Had a low fever for a couple of days and was zonked.

We are all doing much better now. I am now without my brace and doing physical therapy. My arm is getting better everyday but hurts and a bend of approximately 140 degrees. Inconvenient but I am dealing with it.

Diego can count

Diego has been reciting his numbers in order for some time now. But Jason discovered a couple of days ago that he can now actually tell you how many there are in a group! Very exciting.

Katherine and I took Diego to Rabbit Hash, KY yesterday. Katherine was playing drums and we were gonna watch but Diego wasn't having it. He got spooked and became hysterical and I had to take him outside. So he tried to play with all the bigger kids around. He had fun looking at the river and the boats. The kids didn't want much to do with him.

Violet is rolling over

VV can roll from back to front now. She did roll front to back a couple of times but that was on the bed. I think the cushioning helps with that.

Diego is extra sweet these days. He is taking his naps and going to bed without us having to lie down with him until he's asleep then sneak away. We do bath time around 7 pm, then read a book or three or four. Then lights out. We give him a flash light to play with and then leave him alone. You can tell when he is asleep because the flash light stops moving.

Diego is calling me "mom"

Diego has started to call me "Mom" every now and then. You know, instead of "Mommy". They told me the kids tend to grow up fast but this is ridiculous.

So smart

Diego counted to fifteen last night without provocation. He is also getting pretty good at his ABC's and recognizes some letters! It is pretty exciting. He has also become serious about coloring. He used to just scribble around or ask me to color so that he could watch. Now he will sit at the table for long stretches and think about what color to use and try to finish a picture. It is so much fun for me to observe. He gets very serious and sticks out his little tongue in concentration!

Little Chef

Last night, Diego and I made spritz cookies. He has been helping me baked sweets in the kitchen and he loves it. Of course, mainly because he gets to taste stuff. But after the last batch of cookies, I gave him a butter knife and he cut a whole pack of mushrooms in half (one at a time of course). It was a sight to see. He was sooo careful.

Counts beyond ten

Forgot to note that Diego is now counting. Well, counting may be a stretch. I am not sure that he gets the concept of counting but he can recite the numbers in order. He loves to count with Jason as he goes down the steps.

He likes to add an "s" to some numbers. Like fees, fours, fies.

Potty Training

Diego has shown new interest in potty training. We got him a little seat with Sesame Street characters on it that you place on top of the toilet. He likes that a little better than the little potty chairs that he likes to put his toys in... hopefully he doesn't start putting his toys in the commode.

I printed out a potty training chart and Jason bought some star stickers like the teachers put on your tests and homework when you do well. He loves them. Today, he pooped on the bathroom floor (Jason was on duty (doody) so I am not quite sure what happened there). And a few minutes ago, he put himself on the toilet and pooped! Diego, not Jason. It was pretty awesome. Yesterday, he peed in the potty twice. He has been doing that here and there for about a week or so. Exciting but I am determined not to rush him. He's really getting good at taking off his pants and his diaper.